Blue Line (Capital Metro)

The Blue Line is a planned light rail line for connecting Austin–Bergstrom International Airport with the downtown Austin, Texas area in the United States. It is still in the planning stages as a part of Capital Metro's Project Connect. It is estimated to begin revenue service as early as 2028.[1]

Blue Line
Overview
Status	In planning
Locale	Austin, Texas
Termini	North Lamar Transit Center Austin–Bergstrom International Airport
Stations	20
Service
Type	Light rail
System	Capital MetroRail
Operator(s)	Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority
History
Planned opening	2028
Route diagram North Lamar Transit Center US 183      Red Line to Leander Crestview Koenig Triangle Hyde Park Hemphill Park UT/West Mall Capitol West Government Center Republic Square      Orange Line to Stassney Downtown      Red Line to Leander      Green Line to Colony Park MACC/Rainey Colorado River Waterfront Travis Heights I-35 Lakeshore Riverside Faro Montopolis SH 71 Metrocenter US 183 AUS

History

North Lamar Transit Center, the planned northern terminus of the line, seen in 2008

Austin's 2013 East Riverside Corridor Plan called for high-capacity transit to be installed along East Riverside Drive. This became part of the original Blue Line, which failed to find support in 2014 and was shelved. The Gold Line was formed from a segment of this original proposal, and is expected to be built as a separate bus rapid transit line.[1]

In 2018, Capital Metro announced a new long-range planning project entitled Project Connect that outlines several major transit corridors consisting of commuter rail, light rail, and bus rapid transit.[2] The Blue Line corridor will include a transit pathway for a light rail or bus rapid transit line running on the west side of Downtown Austin to Austin–Bergstrom International Airport in southeast Austin.[3] The line was included as part of the Project Connect referendum during the 2020 United States presidential election.[1][4]

Proposed route

South to north, from Austin–Bergstrom International Airport to the North Lamar Transit Center.

Station	Parking	Rail connections	Bus connections	Nearby points of interest
Airport			MetroBus 20	Austin–Bergstrom International Airport
Metrocenter	No		MetroBus 271	Austin Airport Hotels
Montopolis	No		MetroBus 20	Montopolis Park, Tokyo Electron
Faro	No		MetroBus 20, 310	Austin Public Library, Riverside Golf Course
Riverside			MetroBus 20, 300, 483	Park Greene Shopping Center
Lakeshore			MetroBus 7, 20, 483	Oracle Corporation
Travis Heights	No		MetroBus 7, 20, 483, 935, 987	Austin Housing Authority, Norwood Park
Waterfront	No		MetroBus 7, 20, 483	South Congress, Texas Department of Transportation, Austin American-Statesman, Lady Bird Lake
MACC/Rainey	No		MetroBus 17	Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center
Downtown	No	Red Line	MetroBus 451 Capital MetroRapid Gold Line	Austin Convention Center, Downtown Austin, Rainey Street
Republic Square	No	Orange Line	Capital MetroRapid 801, 803, Gold Line MetroBus 105, 111, 171, 980, 981, 985	Republic Square, Sixth Street, Texas State Board of Nursing, United States Federal Court
Government Center	No	Orange Line	Capital MetroRapid 801, 803 MetroBus 1, 3, 19, 20, 105, 985	Wooldridge Square Park, Austin Public Library, Travis County Civil Courthouse
Capitol West	No	Orange Line	Capital MetroRapid 801, 803 MetroBus 1, 3, 19, 20, 105, 985	Texas State Capitol, Travis County Adult Probation, Texas Alliance of Child and Family Services
UT/West Mall	No	Orange Line	Capital MetroRapid 801, 803 MetroBus 1, 3, 19, 20, 105, 640, 982, 990	University of Texas at Austin, Peter T. Flawn Academic Center, Goldsmith Hall, Sutton Hall, Battle Hall, Parlin Hall, Rainey Hall, Harry Ransom Center
Hemphill Park	No	Orange Line	MetroBus 1, 3, 19, 642	University of Texas at Austin, Phi Gamma Delta, Scottish Rite Dormitory
Hyde Park	No	Orange Line	Capital MetroRapid 801, 803 MetroBus 1, 3, 19, 335	Hyde Park, Austin State Hospital, Central Market, Heart Hospital of Austin
Triangle		Orange Line	Capital MetroRapid 801 MetroBus 1, 345, 656, 990	Hyde Park, The Triangle, Texas Facilities Commission, UT Intramural Fields, UT Microfarm, The Triangle Park
Koenig	No	Orange Line	Capital MetroRapid 801 MetroBus 1, 337	Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas Highway Patrol, McCallum High School
Crestview	No	Red Line   Orange Line	Capital MetroRapid 801 MetroBus 1, 7, 300, 324, 350	Crestview Station, Midtown Commons, Texas DPS Credit Union, Black Star Co-op
North Lamar Transit Center		Orange Line	Capital MetroRapid 801 MetroBus 1, 323, 350, 383	Anderson Square Shopping Center

References

1. Clark-Madison, Mike (25 September 2020). "From Light Rail to a Downtown Tunnel: The Parts of Project Connect". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
2. Mark D. Wilson. "Cap Metro unveils new vision for Project Connect - News - Austin American-Statesman - Austin, TX". Statesman.com. Retrieved 2019-11-23.
3. Thursday, October 11, 2018 by Jack Craver (2018-10-11). "Project Connect: Cap Metro insists everything is on the table - Austin MonitorAustin Monitor". Austinmonitor.com. Retrieved 2019-11-23.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
4. Claiborne, Casey. "Cap Metro's 'Orange', 'Blue' Lines could be very different types of transit for Austin". FOX 7 Austin. Retrieved 2019-11-23.

External links

• Map and fact sheet A
• Fact sheet B
• Project Connect (official website)